In a bid to tackle scholarship fraud and streamline the distribution of benefits, the government of Himachal Pradesh has taken a stringent step by making biometric Aadhaar authentication mandatory for both beneficiary students and officers responsible for verifying scholarship applications. This new system will be implemented for the Ministry of Minority Affairs’ scholarship schemes starting August 5th.
To ensure a smooth authentication process, the state will enlist the support of village-level entrepreneurs, who will assist in certifying the applicants. Educational institutions across the state will establish common service centers to facilitate biometric Aadhaar authentication. This measure aims to prevent any mishandling of scholarship applications, and only those applicants who complete the authentication process will have their applications verified at the institute level.
Dr. Amarjit Kumar Sharma, the Higher Education Director, issued a letter to all private and government universities, colleges and schools on Thursday, notifying them of the new system. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has introduced this change to eliminate scams and to enhance the credibility of the scholarship schemes.
Under the new rules, district nodal officers and heads of educational institutions responsible for verifying applications, including beneficiary students, must also undergo biometric Aadhaar authentication. Only those officers who complete the authentication will be granted access to the National Scholarship Portal for verification purposes.
Additionally, the government has directed all eligible students to link their bank accounts with their Aadhaar numbers. Failure to do so will result in the non-disbursement of scholarship funds to unlinked accounts. For students under 18, their parents’ Aadhaar numbers will be linked to the bank account for verification.
The biometric Aadhaar authentication process is scheduled to take place from August 5th to 20th. All students who are beneficiaries of the Ministry of Minority Affairs scholarship schemes will undergo this authentication during this period. Furthermore, the new system will also cater to both new and existing applicants, as all old applications will be renewed under the updated guidelines. The verification of these applications will be conducted from August 10th to 25th.
